The Best Of Times, The Currywurst Of Times

More than 14,000 people who held jobs in the games industry have been laid off in 2026. Employees, sure, but people – with anxious spouses, unaware children they must smile at through it all, roofs over their heads they must still pay for, a table they must still set with food. Ask anyone who’s been through it: getting laid off is a stomach-churning sentence. There is an inescapable trauma there that sticks with you, a constant feeling of waiting for some imaginary other shoe to drop, despite how content and joyous you might otherwise feel. 

Gamescom 2026 was the best video game trade show I’ve ever been to. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that every single person I spoke to, whether in PR, game development, press, or something else related to this massive industry we all love, might not be here next year. They might be laid off, home during Gamescom, stressing over an unpaid bill next August instead of talking enthusiastically about the game they’ve poured countless hours into creating. Tim Endres, Director of Gamescom at Koelnmesse (the event center where the show is held), tells me these layoffs are a serious concern.